Chapter 3

[22] _Saga Library_, _Heimskringla_, iii. 126.

[23] These have been collected and commented upon with his usual learning and research, by Mr. Hartland in the _Antiquary_, xv. 45-48. Blomefield, in his _History of Norfolk_, iii. 507, points out that the same story is found in Johannes Fungerus' _Etymologicon Latino-Graecum_, pp. 1110-1111, though it is here narrated of a man at Dort in Holland, and in _Histoires admirables de nostre temps_, par Simon Goulart, Geneva, 1614, iii. p. 366. Professor Cowell, in the third volume of the _Cambridge Antiquarian Society Transactions_, p. 320, has printed a remarkable parallel of the story which is to be found in the great Persian metaphysical and religious poem called the Masnavi, written by Jalaluddin, who died about 1260. J. Grimm discussed these treasure-on-the-bridge stories in _Kleinere Schriften_, iii. 414-428, and did not attach much value to them.

[24] It is not unimportant in this connection to find that London itself assumes an exceptional place in tradition. Mr. Frazer notes a German legend about London, _Golden Bough_ (2nd ed.), iii. 235; Pausanias, v. 292. Mr. Dale has drawn attention to the Anglo-Saxon attitude towards Roman buildings in his _National Life in Early English Literature_, 35.

[25] See _Archaeologia_, xxv. 600; xxix. 147; xl. 54; _Arch. Journ._, i. 112.

[26] I have worked this point out in my _Governance of London_.

[27] Bishop Kennett, quoted in _Notes and Queries_, fourth series, ix. 258.

[28] Mommsen's account of the Pontifex Maximus should be consulted, _Hist. Rome_, i. 178; and _cf._ Fowler, _Roman Festivals_, 114, 147, 214.

[29] Mrs. Gomme, _Traditional Games_, i. 347.

[30] Bingley, _North Wales_, 1814, p. 252.

[31] See my _Folklore Relics of Early Village Life_, 29; Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, i. 97. This case was reported in the newspapers at the time of its occurrence. It came to England from the _London and China Telegraph_, from which the _Newcastle Chronicle_, 9 February, 1889, copied the following statement:--

"The boatmen on the Ganges, near Rajmenal, somehow came to believe that the Government required a hundred thousand human heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that the Government officers were going about the river in search of heads. A hunting party, consisting of four Europeans, happening to pass in a boat, were set upon by the one hundred and twenty boatmen, with the cry 'Gulla Katta,' or cut-throats, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty."

[32] I have worked out this fact in my _Governance of London_, 46-68, 202-229.

[33] See Turner, _Hist. of Anglo-Saxons_, ii. 207-222; _Y Cymmrodor_, xi. 61-101.

[34] A passage in William of Malmesbury points to the fact of the Bretons in the time of Athelstan looking upon themselves as exiles from the land of their fathers. Radhod, a prefect of the church at Avranches, writes to King Athelstan as "Rex gloriose exultator ecclesiae ... deprecamur atque humiliter invocamus qui in exulatu et captivitate nostris meritis et peccatis, in Francia commoramur" etc., _De Gestis Regum Anglorum_ (Rolls Ed.), i. 154.

[35] Rhys, _Celtic Folklore_, ii. 466. Sir John Rhys acknowledges his indebtedness to me for lending him my Swaffham notes, but at that time I had not formed the views stated above and Sir John Rhys confessed his difficulty in classifying and characterising these stories (p. 456).

[36] In the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, anno 418, and in _Ethelward's Chronicle_, A.D. 418, it is recorded that "those of the Roman race who were left in Britain bury their treasures in pits, thinking that hereafter they might have better fortune, which never was the case."

[37] Buried treasure legends are worth examining carefully, especially with reference to their geographical distribution, with a view of ascertaining how far they follow the direction of the Roman, English, Danish and Norman Conquests. See Henderson, _Folklore of Northern Counties_, 320, for Yorkshire examples, and _Folklore Record_, i. 16, for an interesting Sussex example.

The Danish part of Lincoln, near Sleaford, has numerous treasure legends, see Rev. G. Oliver, _Existing Remains of Ancient Britons between Lincoln and Sleaford_, pp. 29 _et seq._

Mr. W. J. Andrew has proved in the _British Numismatic Journal_ (1st ser. i. 9-59) that traditions of buried treasure may be verified a thousand years after the laying down of the hoard. This has reference to the famous Cuerdale find of coins. The people of Walton-le-Dale, on the Ribble, had a legend that if you stood on a certain headland and looked up the valley to Ribchester "you would gaze over the greatest treasure that England had ever seen." The farmers tried excavations, and the divining rod is said to have been used.

The tradition was true. In May, 1840, the hoard was accidentally found, near Cuerdale Hall, within forty yards of the stream, by men who were repairing the southern bank. A willow tree, still in its prime, was planted to mark the spot. We do not know how much bullion was scattered by the finders, but there was recovered a mass of ingots, armlets, chains, rings, and so on, amounting to 1000 oz., with over 7000 silver coins. They lay in a crumbling leaden case, within a decomposed chest of wood. There were about 1060 English silver coins, whereof 919 were of the reign of King Alfred. There were 2020 from Northumbrian ecclesiastical mints, and 2534 of King Canute, with 1047 foreign coins, mainly French. The treasure had belonged to the Scandinavian invaders in the host of the Danish Kings of Northumbria, and very many bore the mark of York, the Danish capital. The chest was the treasure-chest of the Danes. The money had been seized in England, 890-897; on French coasts, 897-910; and collected among the Danes of Northumbria about 911. In that year, we know, the Danes raided Mercia, and were followed by the English King and thoroughly defeated. Their treasurer, Osberth, was killed, and it is argued that the Danes fell back by the Roman road, and were trying to cross into Northumbria by the ford at Cuerdale, but that, the ford being dangerous, they were obliged to bury their treasure-chest forty yards on the southern bank of the river. They were unable to cross, were cooped up in a bend of the stream, and were all put to the sword. Mr. Lang discussed this from the folklore point of view in the _Morning Post_, 2nd November, 1906, and concludes that "granting that none who knew the site of the deposit escaped, the theory marches well, and quite accounts for the presence of the hoard where it was found. The Danish rearguard defending the line of the Darwen would know that their treasure was hurried forward and probably concealed, but would not know the exact spot."

Another good example is recorded in the _Antiquary_, xiv. 228. Further Henderson notes that the Borderers of England and Scotland entrusted their buried treasure to the brownie (_Folklore of Northern Counties_, 248). This is exactly the same idea which exists throughout India. "Hidden treasures are under the special guardianship of supernatural beings. The Singhalese, however, divide the charge between demons and cobra capellas. Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures. A puja is sufficient with the cobras, but the demons require a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most important, but the Kappowas have hitherto confined themselves to a sacrifice of a white cock, combining its blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot. A Tamil, however, has resorted to human sacrifice as instanced by a case reported in the _Ceylon Times_."--_Indian Antiquary_, 1873. ii. p. 125.

[38] Morris, _Heimskringla_, ii. 13.

[39] Laing's _Heimskringla_, ii. 260.

[40] Rhys, _The Arthurian Legend_, 7. Squire, in his recent _Mythology of the British Islands_, states the case for "the mythological coming of Arthur" in cap. xxi. of his book.

[41] As, for instance, in the case of Taliesin and Ossian, see Squire, _Mythology of the British Islands_, 318; Rhys, _Celtic Mythology_, 551; Nutt's Notes to _Mabinogion_.

I suppose the most ancient example of the duplication process is that of Dion Cassius (iii. 5), who suggests an earlier Romulus and Remus in order to account for the early occupation of the Palatine Hill at Rome. Middleton's _Anc. Rome_, 45.

[42] It is interesting to find that, with independent investigation, Mr. Bury explains on the lines I adopt the traditional part of the life of St. Patrick. See his _Life of St. Patrick_, p. 111.

[43] Freeman, _Hist. Norm. Conq._, iv. 467.

[44] Wright, _Essays_, i. 244, notes this point; see also Freeman, _Hist. Norm. Conq._, iv. 828, and the preface to my edition of Macfarlane's _Camp of Refuge_ (Historical Novels Series), where I have discussed this subject at length.

[45] _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, iii. 52.

[46] Russell, _Kett's Rebellion_, p. 6.

[47] Kemble's _Horae Ferales_, 108.

[48] Perhaps the most interesting example in a minor way comes from Shrewsbury. In the Abbey Church, forming part of a font, is the upper stone of a cross (supposed to have been the Weeping Cross) which was discovered at St. Giles's churchyard. It had been immemorially fixed in the ditch bank, and all traces of its origin were quite lost, except that an old lady, who was born in 1724, remembered having seen in her youth, persons kneeling before this stone and praying. The transmission of the tradition through very nearly three centuries proved correct, for on its being loosened by the frosts of a severe winter, it fell, and its religious distinction became immediately apparent from the sculpture with which it was adorned.--_Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal_, 5th October, 1889.

[49] _Gent. Mag. Lib. Popular Superstitions_, 121. The importance of this tradition may be tested by reference to my book on the _Governance of London_, 96-98.

[50] _Archaeologia_, xxvi. 369-370. One could give many additional examples from all parts of the country, and undoubtedly they are worth collecting. I cannot refrain from quoting the following, as it is from an out-of-the-way source. At Seagry, in Wilts, is an ancient farm, one field of which was known as "Peter's Orchard." The author of a local history records the following: "It has been handed down from generation to generation that in a field on this farm a church was built on the site of an ancient heathen burial ground. In order to test the accuracy of this tradition, in the autumn of 1882 I had excavations made on the spot, which I will now describe. The field contains about ten acres, and presents a very singular appearance. In removing the sods, about two feet from the surface we discovered extensive stone foundations, extending for a considerable distance over the field. From the charred appearance of the stones they had evidently suffered from fire, thus supporting the tradition of some of the oldest inhabitants that the ancient church had been destroyed by fire. On continuing the search we found, about two feet below these foundations, a quantity of early British pottery, the remains of broken urns, some charred bones, and heads of small spears. The following is an extract from a letter which I have received from a gentleman, whose family have been connected with this parish for over two hundred years, and who has given me great assistance. He says: My father was born at Startley in 1784, and remained there until about 1840. Both he and my grandfather were deeply imbued with old folklore. I well remember them constantly speaking of the firm belief handed down to them of the heathen burial places at Seagry, and of the supposed ruins of a church and some religious house at Seagry. I think the discoveries made (on the very spot mentioned by tradition) in August, 1882, are abundant proof that after the lapse of more than nine centuries actual verification of the carefully transmitted tradition has at last been found."--_Bath Herald_, 1st September, 1883. If references to other examples were needed I should like to note Sir William Wilde's illustration as to "how far the legend, the fairy tale, the local tradition, or the popular superstition may have been derived from absolute historic fact."--_Lough Corrib_, 121, 123.

[51] _Echoes from the Counties_ (1880), p. 30.

[52] Grierson, _The Silent Trade_ (1903).

[53] Pearson's _Chances of Death_, ii. 90. The reader should consult Dr. Pearson's entire study on this subject, chapters ix. and x., which may be compared with Mr. MacCulloch's _Childhood of Fiction_, 5-15, and more particularly with Mr. Hartland's _Science of Fairy Tales_.

[54] In 1881 I read a paper before the Folklore Society on "Some Incidents in the story of the Three Noodles by means of reference to facts," _Folklore Record_, iv. 211, and in 1883 I published in the _Antiquary_, two papers on "Notes on Incidents in Folk-tales," based upon the same idea.

[55] Introduction, p. lxix.

[56] Introduction, p. lxxvii.

[57] Page 12.

[58] _Ibid._, p. 26.

[59] _Ibid._, p. 5.

[60] _Tales of the Highlands_, i. p. 251.

[61] Kennedy, _loc. cit._, p. 77.

[62] _Ibid._, p. 90.

[63] See Beda, _Hist. Ecclesia_, lib. i. cap. 25.

[64] See vol. i. p. 253.

[65] Miss Frere's _Old Deccan Days_, p. 279.

[66] AElian, _Var. Hist._, lib. xiii. cap. xxxiii.

[67] _Folklore Record_, vol. iv. p. 57.

[68] _Asiatic Researches_, xvii. p. 502.

[69] _Folklore Record_, vol. iii. p. 284.

[70] Campbell's _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, i. 308.

[71] Joyce, _Old Celtic Romances_, 38, 75, 153, 177, 270. In the _Silva Gadelica_, by Mr. Standish O'Grady, the assembly is described sitting in a circle, vol. ii. p. 159, and Tara is also described, vol. ii. 264, 358, 360, 384.

[72] Miss Cox's admirable study and analysis of the Cinderella group of stories includes the Catskin variants, which number seventy-seven.--_Cinderella_, pp. 53-79.

[73] _Studies in Ancient History_, p. 62.

[74] Sproat's _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 96.

[75] See his _Early Hebrew Life_, p. 85.

[76] Frazer, _Adonis, Attis, and Osiris_, 27-28.

[77] Todd and Herbert, _Irish Version of Nennius_, p. 89.

[78] _Indian Antiq._, iii. 32.

[79] _Laws of Manu_ (Buehler), ix. 127; _Apastamba Gautama_ (Buehler), xxviii. 18.

[80] Sir Henry Maine in his _Early Law and Custom_, p. 91.

[81] A most remarkable instance of an actual case of running away from a marriage, resulting in adventures which might easily become folk-tale adventures if the story were once started on its traditional life, is to be found in Shooter's _Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country_, pp. 60-71.

[82] _West Highland Tales_, vol. i. p. lxix.

[83] Kennedy's _Fireside Stories of Ireland_, p. 64.

[84] _Old Deccan Days_, p. 52.

[85] _Ibid._, p. 233.

[86] "Standing-place."

[87] _Journ. Ethnol. Soc._, _loc. cit._

[88] _New Statistical Account of Scotland_, xiv. 273.

[89] Ure's _Agriculture of Kinross_, 57.

[90] _Archaeologia_, l. 195-214.

[91] Du Chaillu's _Land of the Midnight Sun_, i. 393.

[92] Tupper, _Punjab Customary Law_, ii. 188.

[93] _Cobden Club Essays--Primogeniture._

[94] Morris, _Saga Library_, ii. 194.

[95] _Journ. Ethnol. Soc._, ii. 336.

[96] Elton, _Origins of English History_, 91; _cf._ Du Chaillu, _Land of the Midnight Sun_, i. 393; Morris's _Sagas_, ii. 194.

[97] Breeks, _Hill Tribes of India_, 108.

[98] Mavor's _Collection of Voyages_, iv. 41.

[99] _Anecdotes and Traditions_ (Camden Soc.), 85.

[100] _Mythologie der Volkssagen und Volksmaerchen._

[101] Geiger, _Hist. Sweden_, 31, 32.

[102] Elton, _Origins of English History_, 92.

[103] Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_, 14.

[104] Nutt, _Legend of the Holy Grail_, 44.

[105] _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1850, i. 250-252.

[106] _Journ. Ethnol. Soc._, ii. 337.

[107] Elton's _Origins_, 92.

[108] Mr. Jacobs (_Folklore_, i. 405) objected to my interpretation of this story because--first, the Latin rhyme appearing in the Gaelic tale, the twelfth-century Latin story and the German inscription "tell for the origination of the story in one single place in historic times;" and, secondly, because a Kashmir story (Knowles' _Folk-tales of Kashmir_, 241), based on the same main incident, omits the minor incident of the mallet altogether. The answer to the first objection is that the Latin rhyme has been attached, in historic times, to the ancient folk-tale; and to the second objection, that the Kashmir story preserves the main incident of surrender of property upon reaching old age, and omits the more savage incident of killing, because the Kashmir people are in a stage of culture which still allowed of the surrender of property, but, like the Scandinavians, did not allow of the killing of the aged. Similarly, an English parallel to this form of the variant is preserved by De la Pryme in his _Diary_ (Surtees Society), 162. It must be remembered that the Kashmiris occupy a land which is referred to by Herodotos (iii. 99-105) as in the possession of people who killed their aged (_cf._ Latham, _Ethnology of India_, 199); and if my reading of the evidence is correct, this is also the case of the Highland peasant.

[109] Dr. Pearson advocates statistical methods in his _Chances of Death_, ii. 58, 75-77, and shows by examples the value of them.

[110] MacCulloch, _Childhood of Fiction_: "Some of the things which in these old-world stories form their fascination, have had their origin in sordid fact and reality" (p. vii).

[111] Buehler, _Laws of Manu_, i.: "In Vedic mythology Manu is the heros eponymos of the human race and by his nature belongs both to gods and to men" (p. 57). _Cf._ Burnell and Hopkins, _Ordinances of Manu_, p. 25.

[112] _Early Law and Custom_, 5.

[113] Pausanias, iii. 2(4).

[114] Maine, _Ancient Law_, 4; Grote, _Hist. of Greece_, iii. 101.

[115] Ortolan, _Hist. Roman Law_, 50; Maine, _Early Law and Custom_, 6.

[116] Morris, _Saga Library_, i. p. xxx; Dasent, _Burnt Njal_, i. xlvi.

[117] _Early Law and Custom_, 162.

[118] Manx Society Publications, xviii. 21-22.

[119] Strabo, lib. xv. cap. 1, pp. 709, 717; J. D. Mayne, _Hindu Law and Usage_, 4, 13.

[120] Mackenzie, _Roman Law_, 11; _cf._ Pais, _Anc. Legends of Roman Hist._, 139.

[121] Dasent, _Burnt Njal_, i. p. lvii, and Vigfusson and Powell, _Origines Islandicae_, i. 348.

[122] _Anc. Laws of Ireland_, iv. p. vii.

[123] This appears very strongly in the famous twelfth-century law case which Longchamp pleaded so successfully. _Rotuli curia Regis_, i. p. lxii.

[124] _Early Law and Custom_, 9; _cf._ Burnell and Hopkins, _Ordinances of Manu_, pp. xx, xxxi. It is worth while quoting here the following interesting note from a letter from the Marquis di Spineto printed in Clarke's _Travels_, viii. 417:--

"From the most remote antiquity men joined together, and wishing either to amuse themselves or to celebrate the praises of their gods sang short poems to a fixed tune. Indeed, generally speaking, _the laws by which they were governed_, the events which had made the greatest impression on their minds, the praises which they bestowed upon their gods or on their heroes were all sung long before they were written, and I need not mention that according to Aristotle this is the reason why the Greeks gave the same appellation to laws and to songs."

[125] The references are all given in Smith's _Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities_ sub [Greek: nomos]. Aristotle in the _Problems_, 19, 28, definitely says, "Before the use of letters men sang their laws that they might not forget them, as the custom continues yet among the Agathyrsoi."

[126] Lib. xii. cap. ii. 9.

[127] _Hist. English Commonwealth_, 43.

[128] _Anc. Laws of Ireland_, iv. pp. viii, x.

[129] Hampson's _Origines Patriciae_, 106-107; Kemble, line 5763 _et seq._

[130] Proctor's _History of the Book of Common Prayer_, p. 410.

[131] _Hist. Eng. Commonwealth_, ii. p. cxxxvi. Littleton points out the legal antiquity and importance of these words: "no conveyance can be made without them." See Wheatley's _Book of Common Prayer_ (quoting Littleton), p. 406.

[132] The York manual had the additional clause, "for fairer for fouler." See Wheatley, _loc. cit._, p. 406.

[133] Palgrave, _loc. cit._

[134] _Ibid._

[135] _Manuale et processionale ad usum insiquis ecclesiae Evoracensis_, Surtees Society, 1875. See also _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1752, p. 171; Proctor's _History of the Book of Common Prayer_, p. 409, for other examples.

[136] Palgrave, _English Commonwealth_, i. 43.

[137] Chambers, _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, 115.

[138] Sinclair's _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, x. 534.

[139] Chambers, _Book of Days_, January 19; Nichols, _Fuller's Worthies_, 494.

[140] _Diary of De la Pryme_ (Surtees Society), 126. It may be noted here that Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Traditions_, 179, notes the preservation of an ancient law for the preservation of the oak and the hazel in a traditional proverbial rhyme.

[141] Hazlitt, _Tenures of Land_, 80; other examples refer to the Hundred of Cholmer and Dancing, in Essex, 75; to Kilmersdon, in Somersetshire, 182; to Hopton, in Salop, 165. John of Gaunt is responsible for many of these curious and interesting remains of tribal antiquity. Bisley's _Handbook of North Devon_, 28, refers to one relating to the manor of Umberleigh, near Barnstaple, and I have a note from Mr. Edmund Wrigglesworth, of Hull, of a parallel to this being preserved by tradition only. There is a tradition respecting the estate of Sutton Park, near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, which states that it formerly belonged to John of Gaunt, who gave it to an ancestor of the present proprietor, one Roger Burgoyne, by the following grant:--

"I, John of Gaunt, Do give and do grant, To Roger Burgoyne And the heirs of his loin Both Sutton and Potton Until the world's rotten."

Potton was a neighbouring village to Sutton. There is a moated site in the park called "John o' Gaunt's Castle," see _Notes and Queries_, tenth series, vi. 466. _Cf._ Aubrey, _Collections for Wilts_, 185, for an example at Midgehall; Cowell's _Law Interpreter_, 1607, and the _Dictionarum Rusticum_, 1704, for the custom of East and West Enborn, in Berks, which was made famous by Addison's _Spectator_ in 1714.

[142] Sometimes these are called "burlesque conveyances." See an example quoted in _Hist. MSS. Commission_, v. 459.

[143] It is well to bear in mind the great force of ancient tribal law, which was personal, upon localities. Nottingham is divided into two parts, one having primogeniture and the other junior right as the rule of descent. Southampton and Exeter have also local divisions. But perhaps the most striking example is at Breslau, where there co-existed, until 1st January, 1840, five different particular laws and observances in regard to succession, the property of spouses, etc., the application of which was limited to certain territorial jurisdictions; not unfrequently the law varied from house to house, and it even happened that one house was situated on the borders of different laws, to each of which, therefore, it belonged in part; Savigny, _Private Int. Law_, cap. i. sect. iv.

[144] _Academy_, February, 1884; _Percy Reliques_, edit. Wheatley, i. 384.

[145] _Trans. British. Association_, 1847, p. 321.

[146] Series No. V., published in 1895.

[147] _Philological Society Papers_, 1870-2, pp. 18, 248; Dr. Murray gives the air in an appendix. See also a note by Mr. Danby Fry in the _Antiquary_, viii. 164-6, 269-70; and _The Hawick Tradition_, by R. S. Craig and Adam Laing, published at Hawick in 1898.

[148] Squire, _Mythology of the British Islands_, 69.

[149] Wilde, _Lough Corrib_, 210-248. Sir William Wilde has studied the details of this great fight with great care, and it is impossible to ignore his evidence as to the monuments of it being extant to this day among the recorded antiquities of Ireland. The battle lasted four days. The first day the Fir-Bolg had the best of the fighting, and pillar-stones erected to the heroes who fell are still in situ. Clogh-Fadha-Cunga, or long stone of Cong, which stood on the old road to the east of that village and a portion of which, six feet long, is still in an adjoining wall, being erected to Adleo of the Dananians, and Clogh-Fadha-Neal, or long stone of the Neale, at the junction of the roads passing northwards from Cross and Cong, commemorating the place where the king stood during the battle. After the battle each Fir-Bolg carried with him a stone and the head of a Danann to their king who erected a great cairn to commemorate the event, and this must be the cairn of Ballymagibbon which stands on the road passing from Cong to Cross. The well of Mean Uisge is identified as that mentioned in the MS. accounts of the battle, connected with a striking incident. After a careful examination of the locality, says Sir William Wilde, with a transcript of the ancient MS. in his hand, he was convinced of the identity of a stone heap standing within a circle as the place where the body of the loyal Fir-Bolg youth was burned. The second day's battle surged northwards, and at the western shores of Lough Mask, Slainge Finn, the king's son, pursuing the two sons of Cailchu and their followers, slew them there, and "seventeen flag stones were stuck in the ground in commemoration of their death," and by the margin of the lake in the island of Inish-Eogan there stands this remarkable monument to this hour. The line of the Fir-Bolg camp can still be traced with wonderful accuracy. Caher-Speenan, the thorny fort, was a part of this camp, and still exists. More to the south-east, on the hill of Tongegee, are the remains of Caher-na-gree, the pleasant fort, and still further to the east are Lisheen, or little earthen fort, and Caher-Phaetre, pewter fort. Other forts also exist to give evidence both of the Fir-Bolg and the Danann lines. The Danann monuments are situate in the fields opposite the glebes of Nymphsfield. Five remarkable stone circles still remain within the compass of a square mile, and there are traces of others. The Fir-Bolgs were defeated on the fourth day and their king Eochy fell fighting to the last. "A lofty cairn was raised over his body, and called Carn Eathach, from his name." On the grassy hill of Killower, or Carn, overlooking Lough Mask, stands to this hour the most remarkable cairn in the west of Ireland, and there is little doubt this is the one referred to in the ancient tradition as commemorating the death of the last Fir-Bolg king in Erin.

[150] Squire, _op. cit._, 76, 138.

[151] Squire, _op. cit._, 230.

[152] Squire, _Mythology_, 399.

[153] See _Life and Writings_ by Oliver Elton, ii. 224.

[154] _Governance of London_, 110-113.

[155] _Celtic Heathendom_, 125-133.

[156] See Bathurst, _Roman Antiquities of Lydney Park_, plates viii., xiii., for the famous example dealt with by Sir John Rhys; and Stuart, _Caledonia Romana_, 309, plate ix. fig. 2, for a dedication to the "Deities of Britain."

[157] See his _Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments_, chap. xxii.

[158] See _Folklore_, xv. 306-311, for the Greek evidence; and xvii. 30, 164, for the Irish evidence.

[159] Frazer, _Golden Bough_ (2nd ed.), iii. 236-316. Mr. Frazer, however, is inclined to review his explanation of bonfires as sun-charms; see his _Adonis, Attis and Osiris_, 151, note 4.

[160] The specialisation of the fire cult is illustrated by the Hindu myth of the Angiras, see Wilson, _Rig Veda Sanhita_, i. p. xxix.

[161] Gummere, _Germanic Origins_, 400-2.

[162] It will be convenient to give the references for the various details of savage life in Britain. The original extracts are all given in _Monumenta Historica Britannica_ and in Giles' _History of Ancient Britons_, vol. ii. Ireland--cannibalism: Strabo, iv. cap. 5, 4, p. 201, Diodoros, v. 32; promiscuous intercourse: Strabo; birth ceremony: Solinus, xxii. Scotland--human sacrifice: Solinus, xxii.; promiscuous intercourse, Solinus, cap. xxii., Xiphilinus from Dio in _Mon. Brit. Hist._, p. lx., and St. Jerome adv. Jovin., v. ii. 201; nakedness, Herodian in _Mon. Brit. Hist._, p. lxiv, and Xiphilinus, _ibid._, p. lx. Britain--head-hunting, Strabo, iv. 1-4, pp. 199-201, Diodoros, v. 29; tattooing, Caesar, _De bello Gallico_, v. 12, Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxii. i. (2); promiscuous intercourse, Caesar, _ibid._, v. 14, Xiphilinus in _Mon. Brit. Hist._, p. lvii.

[163] _History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings_, i. 14.

[164] Innes' _Critical Essay_, 45, 51, 56, 240.

[165] O'Curry's _Manners and Customs of Ancient Irish_, i. p. vi. Dr. Whitley Stokes has criticised O'Curry's translations as bad, "not from ignorance, but to a desire to conceal a fact militating against theories of early Irish civilisation."--_Revue Celtique_, iii. 90-101.

[166] Turner, _Hist. of Anglo-Saxons_, i. 64-74; Palgrave, _Eng. Com._, i. 467-8.

[167] Giles' _History of Anc. Britons_, i. 231, referring to parallel customs among the Chinese.

[168] Elton, _Origins of English History_, 82.

[169] Rhys, _Celtic Britain_, 55.

[170] _Celtic Heathendom_, 320, note.

[171] I have dealt with this in my _Ethnology in Folklore_, 36-40.

[172] Skene, _Celtic Scotland_, i. 59, 84.

[173] Pearson, _Hist. of England during the Early and Middle Ages_, i. 15, 21, 35.

[174] Ramsay, _Foundations of England_, i. 9, 11, 30.

[175] Lang, _Hist. of Scotland_, i. 3-5.

[176] Joyce, _Social Hist. of Ireland_, i. 19.

[177] In addition to Mr. Lang and Dr. Joyce, who are folklorists as well as historians, and who as we have seen do deal with these records scientifically, the folklorist goes out of his way to reject these records. Thus Mr. Squire says that "the imputation" which Caesar makes as to polyandrous customs "cannot be said to have been proved," _Mythology of the British Islands_, 30.

[178] _Village Communities_, 17.

[179] _Principles of Sociology_, i. 714.

[180] _Arch. Cambrensis_, 6th ser. v. 3.

[181] _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, xx. 259.